Chapter 82

In the fading lights of the night, the figure of a white-haired youth swept past the buildings, landing nimbly on the rooftop of a hotel.

Yuan Lan, holding the unconscious Bai Xuechao with one arm, leaped directly from the rooftop. Puppet threads pulled him to a steady landing on the balcony of a luxurious suite.

He was clearly very familiar with this place. Without needing the faint light, he reached out with practiced ease and touched one of the many potted plants on the balcony.

His fingertip pressed on a white pebble painted with golden patterns inside the pot, and he injected his special ability power.

The intricate and magnificent patterns on the pebble lit up with a faint golden light.

In the next second, Yuan Lan and Bai Xuechao disappeared.

At this very moment, in S City.

A silvery-white waxing gibbous moon hung high in the pitch-black night sky. The cold, bright moonlight shone on the floating island that hovered in the sky without relying on any technology, casting a clear glow on the island’s cobblestone paths, creating a serene and ethereal road of moonlight.

A leather shoe with a shaved-off tip stepped on the cobblestone path.

Yuan Lan, carrying Bai Xuechao, strode forward along the cobblestone path towards the depths of the floating island. The night wind blew past the lush bushes by the roadside, lifting the hem of his blood-stained windbreaker.

In the depths of the island, there was a mountain, and on its slope sat a castle so magnificent it seemed to belong in a fairy tale, surrounded by a vast, lush forest.

The castle’s architectural style leaned towards Gothic, with soaring spires and pointed arches layered with exquisite reliefs. Light shone from the side corridor windows, refracted by the huge stained-glass windows into splendid colored light, giving it a unique sense of sanctity in the dark night.

Before Yuan Lan could step through the main doors, a mature female voice sounded from within: “Yuan Lan, you’re back!”

Just by listening to the voice, one could already picture the image of a mature, cool older sister type in their mind.

The woman who emerged from the castle matched anyone’s impression of that voice. Her thick, dark, wavy hair framed a mature and stunning face. She wore a V-neck red French dress, revealing a slender neck and collarbones, and a leather choker of the same style as Yuan Lan’s. Her figure was excellent, with a thin waist and long legs, bright and sexy.

She also had a pair of red eyes, as crimson as blood, filled with tender affection.

When she saw the beautiful, white-haired young man in Yuan Lan’s arms, the warm smile on her face instantly faded quite a bit. She raised an eyebrow and asked in a joking manner, “Who is he, a newcomer? I wonder which deity he is that you’d personally carry him back?”

“Mu Xinyue, take him for treatment.” Yuan Lan had no intention of explaining to her and directly pushed the person into her arms.

Mu Xinyue subconsciously obeyed the command and took Bai Xuechao. The young man in her arms was surprisingly light, and her hands could feel his rather thin frame even through his clothes.

“What about you?” Mu Xinyue was not in a hurry to leave. Her gaze swept over Yuan Lan, finally stopping on his chest where the bloodstains had dried. It was obvious he had been injured and then healed with his special ability. She asked with a deeper meaning, “Do you have any injuries that need my treatment?”

“You know I don’t need it,” Yuan Lan refused with a smile.

While taking off the black windbreaker draped over his shoulders and hooking it over his arm, he walked past Mu Xinyue.

As his footsteps faded into the distance, Mu Xinyue heard his gentle voice drift back: “Be quick, his condition isn’t very good. I want to know his physical condition after I’ve showered.”

Hearing this, Mu Xinyue glanced at Bai Xuechao in her arms and pursed her lips.

***

When Bai Xuechao woke up, he opened his eyes to a scene that was unfamiliar but not a hospital room, and he knew that his plan had been successfully completed.

If I’m not mistaken, this is the medical room of the Apocalypse Society.

Sunlight poured in from the half-drawn curtains, shining on the foot of the hospital bed.

Beside the bed were medical instruments commonly found in a hospital’s intensive care unit.

The heart monitor showed that his heart rate had returned to normal. An IV bottle hung from the IV stand, and the remaining half-bottle of fluid was dripping down, entering his body through the thin tube of the IV set in the back of his right hand.

And a bit further away, there was an office desk that would never be found in a regular hospital room. The angle of the photo frame on the desk was cleverly placed so that he could see the photo clearly from his position.

It was a photo of two people——

Yuan Lan was sitting elegantly on a European-style chair with his legs crossed. His handsome face wore his usual gentle smile, exuding the aura of a superior who had everything under control.

Sitting on the armrest of the chair was a stunningly beautiful woman with long, black, wavy hair. A pair of beautiful long legs were exposed from under her black hip-hugging skirt. Her body leaned towards Yuan Lan, and her slender, delicate hand rested intimately on his shoulder, her face full of a sweet smile.

Bai Xuechao felt a bit speechless.

He could tell that this photo was intentionally placed for him to see.

It was also easy to guess who did it—the woman with the long, wavy hair in the photo.

In our organization’s intelligence on the Apocalypse Society, there were two cadres’ names.

One was Lin Changqing, whose appearance he already knew, and the other was Mu Xinyue, which was clearly a girl’s name. Additionally, there was a blurry photo of a female, and her hair was long and black with big waves.

If there wasn’t a second female cadre in the Apocalypse Society, then this woman’s name should be Mu Xinyue.

I just don’t know what Yuan Lan did while I was unconscious. This woman, likely named Mu Xinyue, clearly held some hostility towards me. By intentionally letting me see the photo of the two of them, she was proclaiming her intimate relationship with Yuan Lan, which could be seen as an act of declaring sovereignty.

…Wait.

Bai Xuechao’s expression turned odd.

Proclaim what to me???

At this moment, a familiar, cute voice sounded in his mind: “Host, how are you feeling?”

Bai Xuechao continued to survey the surroundings. Next to the office desk was a huge medicine cabinet. Most of the left side was filled with boxed medicines, while the right side had potions not available on the market and various pills in transparent bottles. There was one type of pill he recognized, a grayish-white color. It was X8, which concealed Lure-pheromones.

He replied, “I’m fine.”

“That’s good, Mu Xinyue is quite amazing,” Xiao 6 said with relief.

Its words also confirmed Bai Xuechao’s earlier guess that the doctor of the Apocalypse Society was indeed Mu Xinyue.

“Host, you’ve been brought to the Apocalypse Society’s base by Yuan Lan—the Sky Floating Island.” Xiao 6 displayed a photo of a floating island in front of him against a background of blue sky and white clouds. It introduced, “This floating island stays in the sky 24/7. It’s the special ability of a cadre named Tao Ru. I can’t say any more than that.”

More information would involve future plot chapters, so Bai Xuechao had to gather the intelligence himself; Xiao 6 couldn’t reveal it.

Bai Xuechao recalled what Yuan Lan had said to him earlier—

『Do you like floating islands in the sky?』

It seemed he was referring to the Apocalypse Society’s base.

“It’s quite high-end,” Bai Xuechao said.

The Dark Organization only possessed a skyscraper, while the Apocalypse Society had an entire island floating in the sky. In comparison, he felt the Dark Organization was slightly inferior in terms of coolness.

The old man (referring to their organization’s leader) was still too conservative.

Bai Xuechao thought about sitting up, but he still didn’t have much strength. Just as he was about to push himself up with his arms, he suddenly noticed an extra bracelet on his left wrist.

The bracelet’s texture was similar to obsidian, about a finger’s width. Its smooth, black surface had a glassy luster. He didn’t know how long it had been on his wrist, but it had absorbed his body heat and didn’t feel cold. Because he hadn’t moved this hand before, he hadn’t noticed it. The moment he moved, he felt the foreign sensation on his wrist.

Its style wasn’t that of an ordinary bracelet; instead, it had a safety clasp, allowing the bracelet to be adjusted in size like a handcuff. Therefore, it fit his wrist almost perfectly, with only two or three millimeters of room to move, making it impossible to take off.

“What is this?” Bai Xuechao asked.

Xiao 6 made a “hissing” sound. It seemed it couldn’t reveal the information directly and could only say euphemistically, “This is something invented by the Apocalypse Society. It’s still a semi-finished product. As for its function… Host, try using your special ability.”

Hearing this, Bai Xuechao had a rough guess.

He tried to condense a little water in his hand. Sure enough, the output of his special ability power was very sluggish. It took him a long time to condense a single drop of water.

“Oh ho,” Bai Xuechao understood, “This advanced?”

What other surprises did the Apocalypse Society have that he didn’t know about?

This was just a semi-finished product, and it could already make a special ability user’s power output sluggish, making it difficult to use their ability. If it were the finished product, wouldn’t it be able to block the output of special ability power, temporarily preventing a special ability user from using their ability?

No wonder Yuan Lan was interested in Zhou Chenhao’s special ability. Wasn’t this equivalent to a tool version of ability nullification?

Bai Xuechao gave up trying to get up and lay back on the hospital bed, carefully studying the safety clasp on the bracelet. It wasn’t any new type of lock, and its structure wasn’t complicated.

If nothing unexpected happened, he could pick it open with a piece of wire.

Realizing the situation was still under his control, Bai Xuechao felt at ease.

He thought, next, he would just pretend to be helpless against this bracelet and stay in the Apocalypse Society to gather intelligence.

Plan is a go.

Just then, the door to the room was gently pushed open, and a young girl with long, dark purple hair walked in.

To say she was a young girl wasn’t entirely accurate. She looked to be over twenty years old, but she was slender and petite, wearing a white shirt and an ankle-length jumper dress.

Her demeanor was somewhat timid. At first glance, she looked like a quiet and shy little girl still in high school.

It was as if she couldn’t see Bai Xuechao at all. She walked quietly to the medicine cabinet, opened the right-side cabinet door, moving lightly and making very little noise the entire time.

Bai Xuechao asked, “Who are you?”

The sudden, cold voice of a young man seemed to startle her. Her hand trembled, and she let out a small gasp, dropping the medicine bottle she had just taken out.

She turned her head in surprise, her violet eyes looking at Bai Xuechao. Her voice was faint and weak: “Can you see me?”

A question mark popped up above Bai Xuechao’s head.

She had a very faint violet flower scent on her, the smell of a special ability user’s Lure-pheromone.

However, even though she walked lightly, there was still a faint sound, and the sunlight shining on her cast a shadow on the floor. It was obvious her special ability wasn’t invisibility or something similar, so why did she ask that?

The girl raised her hands to cover her face. It took her a long time to muster the courage to ask timidly, “Do you still remember what I look like?”

What did she mean, did her special ability make people unable to remember her face?

“I remember,” Bai Xuechao said calmly, “Your eyes are purple.”

Hearing this, the girl lowered the hands covering her face and let out a small, surprised sound: “Eh!”

“Is that something hard to remember?” Bai Xuechao asked.

The girl lowered her head and only after a long while did she softly “hmm.”

Bai Xuechao directly took the lead and continued to ask, “What’s your name?”

“Yu… Yu Ruolan,” the girl replied in a small voice.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep